


The Baskerville cold

by Enolaholmes468



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-12 21:20:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28517046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enolaholmes468/pseuds/Enolaholmes468
Summary: Based after the Baskerville hound, John catches a cold and snuggling follows.
Relationships: Mycroft Holmes/John Watson, Mycroft Holmes/Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Kudos: 41





	The Baskerville cold

John was enjoying his breakfast at the pub before they left Dartmoor. The case had been solved and John was laughing quietly at how Sherlock didn’t understand sentiment. He was glad that the hound wasn’t real and that the terrifying ordeals of the day before were over. The light that had shone right into his eyes was still giving him a headache but he was in good spirits despite it. He finished his breakfast and said goodbye to Greg. Then they got a train back to London. The train ride was as expected long and tiring. Sherlock kept it from being boring, he kept giving him suggestions for titles for his blog. “The Dartmoor dog?”  
“The Devon Devil?”  
It was rather amusing but it wasn’t helping John’s headache. He was also extremely tired and ready to just go to sleep on the train. He told Sherlock he was tired and closed his eyes.

Sherlock woke him up and he slowly realised where he was. They had just pulled into London Blackfriars. They got off the train and started walking to their flat. John was aching all over, obviously his body didn’t like him sleeping on an uncomfortable train seat. He was also still exhausted despite all the sleep he got on the train. Luckily after walking for about 2 minutes Sherlock suggested they get a cab. They got in and John fought to stay awake throughout the ten minute drive. They got back to their flat and John made tea, he then brought it over to the sofa. He handed Sherlock his tea and they sat quietly drinking it in peace. Sherlock opened his laptop and started searching for new cases. John went for a nap.

About 2 hours later John woke up and went through to the kitchen. He made dinner and called Sherlock to the table. They sat eating and chatting and then Sherlock went to go talk to Mycroft and explain his findings. John then went for a shower hoping it would alleviate the exhausted lethargy that enveloped him. It worked a bit and then John decided to go stretch his legs, he had spent most of the day sitting down. He went for a walk but got out of breathe a lot quicker than usual. He decided to go home after only a short walk. He walked up the stairs to the flat and coughed a couple of times once he reached the landing. Mrs Hudson popped out of her flat on hearing John coughing to check he was ok.  
“John, are you feeling alright?” She asked  
“Just a slight frog in my throat it’s nothing.” John replied his brow furrowed in confusion, he didn’t feel particularly ill but then he didn’t feel particularly well. He went back in his flat and started watching kingsman. He snuggled up on the sofa with a cup of tea and some microwaveable popcorn. All these things brought him comfort as he relaxed.

John had been so busy the past couple of days and he had been so stressed when Sherlock trapped him in Baskerville that he assumed his slight health irregularities was down to that. Going by his analysis all he had to do was relax for a day or two and he’d be right as rain. 

Sherlock was with Mycroft and was telling him what he had found out and Mycroft was very happy with his brother’s deductive skills. He was not happy however with the fact that Sherlock pretended to be him. He forgave him for this given that he had just helped a man to stop feeling crazy. Mycroft sent Sherlock home and threatened him with a knighthood. As Sherlock was leaving his office Mycroft said “Keep an eye on John he should take it easy for a bit.” Sherlock was confused by this statement but didn’t question it Mycroft was always right and he always figured out what he meant in the end.

Sherlock got home and saw John asleep on the couch under a blanket, there was an empty teacup on the table and a bowl with a couple of popcorn kernels in the bottom. Taron Egerton was on the screen fighting some person whilst dressed in a suit. Sherlock smiled to himself, perhaps he understood sentiment a little. He gently pulled the blanket, which had hall off John’s top half and was only covering his legs, up to his shoulders. As he did so Sherlock felt some warmth from John’s skin, his hands must be cold from the outside he thought. He had walked the whole way home trying to figure out what Mycroft had meant. 

Had Sherlock done something to him in the Baskerville labs? He hadn’t seemed scarred by it but perhaps John was hiding it. Sherlock decided to watch John sleep to see if he showed signs of discomfort. For the first couple of minutes John was almost completely still except for the rise and fall of his chest. Then his breath hitched his arm moved, Sherlock inhaled sharply petrified that he had upset John. Then John started coughing into his fist whilst asleep. The coughs sounded relatively normal and not too harsh but Sherlock was still worried.

Sherlock got a thermometer from the kitchen and gently woke John. John looked at Sherlock confused in his half awake state, he realised Sherlock was holding a thermometer and was concerned.  
“Sherlock, are you feeling ok?”  
“I’m fine John, it’s you I’m worried about!”  
“I’m fine!” John said and grimaced.  
“Then prove it by taking your temperature.”  
John took the thermometer from Sherlock and placed it in his mouth, it beeped and Sherlock took it and read the number out.  
“37.8°”   
John looked a little concerned by that.  
“It’s not quite a fever but I think you should rest John have you been feeling at all unwell today?”  
John filled Sherlock in on his symptoms and sighed. 

Sherlock picked up John’s legs and sat on the sofa laying John’s legs down on his lap. He started giving John a wonderful foot massage, his hands were soft as they hadn’t ever done much manual labour. John sighed happily and Sherlock told him not to worry it seemed to be the common cold and he would feel terrible for a couple of days and then be fine. John quickly fell asleep feeling safe with Sherlock. 

Over the next couple of days Sherlock cared for John and made sure he was as comfortable as possible. He made food that John liked and ignored its lack of nutritional value it didn’t matter at that moment, making sure John felt ok was the most important thing. Sherlock felt very stressed and knew he needed to relax there was nothing gravely wrong with John and he was almost completely better. All this stress was giving Sherlock a headache, he sat down with a glass of water and watched John sleep on the sofa. Sherlock must have fallen asleep because he woke up to John gently shaking him.

“Thanks for taking care of me Sherlock I’m sorry it exhausted you so much.” John said.  
“Don’t be sorry John you have nothing to apologise for.” Sherlock croaked. John furrowed his brow and looked at Sherlock quizzically, he picked up the thermometer and placed it in Sherlock’s mouth.   
“38.4° is that warm for you or not?”  
“Ask Mycroft” Sherlock replied miserably.   
John phoned Mycroft who answered promptly despite it being about midnight.  
“John, how can I help?”  
“What is Sherlock’s usual body temperature?”  
“Well as you can probably guess Sherlock runs cold because of his lifestyle. He normally registers about 36.4°.”  
“Well at the moment he’s registering at 38.4°”  
“Then I’d say he has caught your cold.”  
“Oh dear!”  
“Do you never read signs John?”  
“What do you mean?”  
“In Baskerville in the lab you went in there was a sign on a door saying only enter if you want a cold and you entered.”  
“So this is my fault?”  
“To an extent, yes.”  
With that John thanked Mycroft for his help and hung up. He explained what Mycroft had told him to Sherlock, leaving out the part where it was his fault.

He spent the next couple of days being extra nice to Sherlock who wasn’t a bad patient but he did get rather ill from it. His body was always so fragile because of his unhealthy habits so he really suffered. John felt so bad for giving him the illness. He phoned Mycroft and asked him to come round. 

Mycroft left everything he was doing and immediately started tending to his brother. He knew exactly how Sherlock liked being looked after as he had often comforted Sherlock as a child. Well comforted in their own odd way but it seemed to work and Sherlock soon started improving. Once Sherlock was well on his way to recovery he left John to look after Sherlock. It was at this point that Sherlock’s fever finally broke after about a week. So Sherlock would have no recollection of Mycroft ever being there. 

A week later when Sherlock was starting to get on his feet again he got a taxi to Mycroft’s office block. He went inside and knocked on the door of his office, Mycroft was a little surprised to see Sherlock but hid it.   
“How can I help you, brother dear?”  
“I want to thank you,”  
“For what?”  
“Looking after me when I was ill.”  
“That was John.”  
“And you.”  
“How could you possibly know that?”  
“The knocked on the door was straight.”  
“That could’ve been anyone!”  
“Only you do it!”  
“I see you’re starting to feel better.”  
“Indeed I am thanks to you.”   
And with that Sherlock left Mycroft’s office leaving him stunned which was a peculiar thing to happen to Mycroft Holmes.


End file.
